Supreme Court

Ask CSUSM: DACA and the Supreme Court

Last Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration cannot execute its plan to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which was instituted in 2012 to protect eligible undocumented people from deportation and grant work authorizations for two-year periods. As a result of the 5-4 decision, almost 700,000 young people, known as “Dreamers,” can remain in the United States and…


Newsom’s death penalty hold and the nation

Both celebration – and ire – followed Gov. Gavin Newsom’s announcement of a moratorium on the death penalty in California. California’s 737 death row inmates constitute more than a quarter of the national number. Keeping them on death row costs $150 million a year more than sentencing them to life without parole. California’s death penalty has been at an impasse for decades. The state has…


Sessions suing California over immigration

President Donald Trump’s recent trip to California came days after Attorney General Jeff Sessions sued the state for violations of federal immigration law. That case challenges recent California laws limiting cooperation with federal agents. Several cities and states have declined to help with increased federal efforts to arrest, detain and deport people living in the United States without authorization. These are only the latest arguments…


ACLU to Vista: Get real on Issa protests

“Nothing is more American than political protest. We’ve worked cooperatively with the city of Vista and law enforcement, but we will not back down from defending the First Amendment. I am very happy that the ACLU has taken this case on behalf of me, and on behalf of constituents in California District 49, who have the right to freedom of speech.” — Ellen Montanari, Indivisible…


Capitol painting won’t prevail on appeal

A controversial painting that made headlines earlier this year is now the subject of a lawsuit in a federal court in Washington, D.C., but constitutional experts predict the plaintiff’s free speech arguments are doomed. The case hinges on whether an art competition held by members of Congress qualifies as “government speech,” which has less protection under the First Amendment. The legal feud has roiled emotions in Washington…


Scott Peters, helped and hindered by Citizens United, decries its impact

At a Clairemont community park Congressman Scott Peters marked the sixth anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling by speaking plainly about the deleterious effects it’s had on politics. “There’s way too much attention on this big money, secret money and raising money for this government to work very well,” Peters said, flanked by a handful of UC San Diego students. It’s something the San…


Employee-owned discount grocer WinCo opened Thursday at San Marcos

Not just another discount supermarket, but employee-owned WinCo Foods opened at 9 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 22 at Creekside Marketplace, 555 Grand Avenue, San Marcos. That would be the first WinCo discount grocery store in San Diego County . In a tale of two Creekside Marketplace openings, Hobby Lobby opened last month next to the new WinCo. The two retailers were expected to bring some fresh…